Streetfood – Adam’s Kabab (Phears Lane, Chuna Gali, near Central Metro station, Kolkata)

In a nutshell:

A super duper single menu joint that is just a hole in the wall shop but serves some excellent kababs.

superb sutli kabab at Adam’s

Address & other details: Alight at Central metro station (towards Poddar Court end). U come across a statue of Maharana Pratap on ur left if u r facing Girish Park. Once in front of the statue, take the road to the right (if u r facing the statue). Take first right turn from there & go straight. The shop is on the left near Haji Allauddin Sweet shop.

Shop Board of Adam’s kabab

Meal for 2: Rs. 80 onwards

Cuisine Type: Nonvegetarian

Description:

Many years back, I was floored by the sutli kabab here.

For the uninitiated, Sutli kabab is made by wrapping a paste of meat & spices around a metal sheekh, tying it with a cotton thread & then doing it on a barbeque pit. Once the kabab is done, the thread is removed & the kabab is served.

Sutli kabab being prepared

The sutli kabab I had then was unbelievably soft, spicy, hot, awesomely tasty & was just out of the world. I thought it to be the best in its category then. Earlier this year I had a similar thing at Babu Bhai Kababwale, Chilti Qabar, purani Dilli. I was very impressed but I thought that Adam’s was better.

sutli kabab on Barbeque pit

Back then Adam’s Kabab name was not written anywhere. The elderly guy at the shop used to sit on the floor. This time we found a young guy with earphones manning the shop, sitting on a high cement slab with Adam’s kabab written. In case u r wondering about the name Adam, it refers to the first human being according to Islam who is also considered the first prophet.

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Streetfood: Babu Bhai Kabab Wale (1465B near Masjid Sayed Rafai, Chitli Qabar, Jama Masjid, Delhi)

In a nutshell:

Superb unstoppable chatpata dhaga kababs in a neat & clean tiny ‘hole in the wall’- something  that is not worth a miss – my tastebuds gave the kababs a standing ovation.

YUMM dhaga kabab – streetfood near jama masjid, Delhi

Address & other Details: Get into the lane perpendicular to Gate no. 1 of Jama Masjid. Keep walking till u reach a ‘y’ point. Take the road on the left – almost in the same direction as u were walking. U will find Mohd. Shakir, the current owner of the stall, making kababs on ur right hand side from a neat & clean white ‘hole in the wall’. U may also call 01123244205, 9899362993 – I am not confident though that someone will respond.

Shakir bhai’s – one man show

The smartest thing to do is to take a rickshaw & entrust him with all the above details. U shud be there in not much time.

Meal for 2: Rs. 60 onwards (each kabab for Rs. 6)

Cuisine Type: Nonvegetarian

Short Description – In case u r in a hurry:

Its a ‘one man show’ – Shakir Bhai, as he is known here, sits on a low platform with a neat & clean metal sigri (barbeque) & sells what he calls ‘dhaga kababs’ (dhaga means thread). When he is not around, his brother is the solo guy.

He has a thick bunch of leaves that look like paan leaves stacked on one side. On the other, he has a ‘gumla’ (vessel) full of spiced up meat paste. Almost mechanically he picks up some paste, rolls it around the sheekh, wraps it up with a cotton thread & tears off the thread with such ease & speed as if it were no thread, puts it on the barbeque, adjusts the coal, fans the barbeque, rotates the kababs so that they cook uniformly, served the same on a plate, takes the money, returns the change & also takes back the ‘used plate’ !!!!!!!

Kababs – in the making

He uses charcoal to fire the barbeque & the ‘sheekhs’ (metal rods) used by him for making the kabab are thick & made of steel.

He also caters to Marriages & parties in which case the offering widens – sheekh kabab, shami kabab, chicken, fish & paneer tikka, chicken & fish fry & also rumali roti. I am sure those are made at his home & delivered.

He told us very casually that the shop has been around since ‘before 1947’ but I spotted maybe the sense of ‘accomplishment’ in his eyes. As we started chatting up with him, we found that he has been doing this himself for last 22 years (he was in school then) – started with assisting his father.

one more shot of the one man kabab shop

Needless to say, the kabab was outstanding.

Detailed description – In case u have the time to njoy reading:

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